Can we get a grip on Intersectionality?

In linguistics, we learn that definitions are often contextual. That is to say a term can be misappropriated or specifically designated to mean something other than originally intended given certain context and conditions. So, for example, here is a term that has been giving me headaches, recently” INTERSECTIONALITY!

A dictionary definition (Seventh Collegiate Dictionary) is:

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

This term has historically been used to indicate inclusivity, that is to say to recognize my whole self, as I am all of me, not just one thing. All of these different aspects of who I am intersect to form my whole identity – my gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, etc. When I am at a disadvantage or somehow being discriminated against, it may very well be because of my race, religion, gender, etc. that all impact upon and intersect with each other. For example, it is known that black transgender women are at a significantly higher risk for being subjected to extreme violence than virtually any other group in the United States. When did we. begin to use this term to express “all of me?”

According to the Columbia Journalism Review, “Intersectionality” was coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a civil rights activist and legal scholar. In a paper for the University of Chicago Legal Forum, Crenshaw wrote that traditional feminist ideas and antiracist policies exclude black women because they face overlapping discrimination unique to them.

The term was intended to be one of affirmation, so that we see ALL of each other, and not just focus on one aspect of an individual, understanding the many reasons for discrimination, and hopefully how we can counteract this. We all have many different identity points, facets of our lives and do not want to be reduced to a caricature of any one aspect of who we are. Further, when different reasons for discrimination compound each other, there are members of our community who need our advocacy and concern even more,

So, what has happened in our present world of contention where too many causes and issues are too often conflated so that instead of the intended meaning of this term where we are to see all of the many aspects of what makes us an individual or group and be cognizant of any disadvantage that accrues due to that total picture, too many among us are reducing the many variegated aspects of who and what we are to simplistic and erroneous minimal categories. Here all victims are victims and all oppressors are oppressors summarily without looking at the nuanced reality of different groups and their stories and challenges. Israel is NOT an absolute oppressive annihilator (though there are policies that may not be well-informed on many levels), all immigrants are not suspect (any more than every group has its suspect members), all people of color are not lazy (we all have those too!), all Jews are not rich, all Muslims are not terrorists and so on…. We are all people of many identities – I for example, am a mom, wife, woman, observant Jew, supporter of the value of all lives and social justice, an academic, a creative thinker, and so much more. Do NOT reduce me to a bleeding heart liberal or call me names because I support Israel and DO NOT tell me that I cannot love Israel (though disagree vehemently with policies and practices of its government and some of its own identity groups) and feel that we must 100% support black lives, Muslim people of faith, help immigrants, and so on. I live by the foundational Jewish belief that we must respect every human being for G-d is at the core of each and every one.

When I see and value and accept you as a person of faith, gender identity, nationality, racial grouping, and all of the many other facets of who you are as a complete human being, THAT IS INTERSECTIONALITY. When one says you cannot support Black Lives Matter (even with troubling statements in its position statements with which I vehemently disagree) and love Israel and be a person of privilege (due to my racial identity, but not my gender nor my religious grouping) and otherwise reduce us to the A or NOT-A binary options, THIS IS NOT INTERSECTIONALITY.

Our identities are complex and nuanced and multi-faceted, just like each of the elements of those identities. Our tenth commandment teaches not to covet your neighbor’s identity or belongings, acknowledging that we are all many different things. That is what makes us interesting. Instead of looking at labels, let us work on creating affinity groups in a meaningful way. I was learning with my daughter’s two nine-year-old and six-year-old daughters this morning about Tisha B’Av, the saddest and most mournful day in the Jewish calendar, that will be on Thursday. We were talking about the destruction of the Jewish Temple due to Sinat Hinam, causeless hatred, which I think is the result of the MISUSE of the terms INTERSECTIONALITY in our world today and how we have to build our community with good people with constructive and caring values, REGARDLESS of the various identity points that may “mark” us as part of this “good” group or that “not good” group. They got it!

Can we please all take on this lesson? I see and care but will never discriminate against you because of the religious garb you wear; what your gender is – binary or not, what is the color of your skin; the language that is your mother tongue…. I SEE YOU and I understand that these ARE IMPORTANT PARTS OF YOU. What I care deeply about is that we do not conflate these identities inappropriately and instead use our shared values of caring, sharing, forgiving and giving, and humility and faith in the greater good and so much else to build consortiums and communities that are healing and accepting. COME ONE COME ALL, AND BRING ALL OF YOU to the party! Then hopefully my headaches will go away.